Beauty and inspiration is also in the details. One small piece of metal can hold you completely; the fragility of life can be represented in a single object and a piece of our attire can evoke our deepest memories or represent the most forbidden of our secrets. The makeup that gives oblivion and the secret beauty hidden in the creepiest materials is what motivates Wren Britton—the genius behind PUREVILE!—to create unique pieces full of mystery, originality and a lot of passion.
Britton’s works are considered prêt à porter art—giving a unique value to each piece. He brings every piece to life with Baroque flourishes, Victorian decay and dark eroticism—a true curator of modern decadence. Britton says, “I encourage excess, I make these accessories for everyone, men, women and all others above and beyond; giving emphasis in men, for centuries we have been the peacocks of fashion but in the later centuries we have fallen into a spiral of banality.”
We had the opportunity to talk with this New Yorker who becomes increasingly more international about his beginnings, his inspirations and future desires.
Being honest, it is unusual to find pieces as yours, in your words, describe your work.
What I like to do with my work is take things that are lost, forgotten or thrown away and give them a new life. I give reverence to the decaying and the dejected. I use the idea of Victorian Mourning and create pieces that remind us of the fragility and shortness of life while also revering the actual dead. I scour flea markets and estate sales. Look on the ground and under the dirt, in attics and basements to find the pieces for my work. Everything has a soul. Everything has a story and a life. Then I combine those disparate pieces to create something new and hopefully something magical that resonates in others as much as it does in me. PUREVILE! Is more than just accessories, it’s how I live and who I am; it’s the way I see the world and all the things in it. It’s a way for me to show everyone all that’s inside of me, all the strange little pieces hidden in cobwebbed corners. All the anxieties and loves all the fetishes and fashions. It’s a mirror i hold up to myself so I can share my obsessions and loves with the world. PUREVILE! Isn’t for everyone but then again it isn’t supposed to be.
I guess you had a very inspiring childhood, when did this love for creation begin? And what was the first piece you made?
My parents are both very creative. My Mom taught me how to sew when I was very little and my Dad used to draw cartoons on mine and my brothers lunch bags that we took to school! My house was always filled with crafts and books and creativity. We were always making things since I could remember. My parents never limited us creatively and they were always encouraging us to expand our minds. When I was young I wanted to be an entomologist and study insects. I particularly liked spiders and my Mom would give me sewing thread and I would make these huge complex webs all around the house. I would spend hours creating little worlds, I was so painfully shy as a child, so Art was a way for me to escape and create worlds where I was in control. I try to keep that excitement and childhood wonder in everything I do. That sense of discovery and wonderment. Adults are taught or told to “grow up” and leave behind childish things like fantasy and imagination. For me and others like me this is what we strive on and are ruled by.
I can’t remember the first thing i ever made but i do remember when I was maybe 12-13 I made my mother a wool jacket for her birthday with a matching brooch. It took me forever and I broke about 20 needles making it but I remember the satisfaction of making something that imagined become real. It was a powerful and important moment. I drew a sketch and bought the fabric and supplies and cut and sewed and then suddenly there was this thing that I had imagined in front of me, as real as i was. It was a revelation; it made me realize what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be.
Do you have favorite materials to work with? We can find skeletons, teeth and insects; what draws you to this?
Well as I mentioned before I wanted to be an entomologist when I was young so insects have always fascinated me as well as all animals and human biology, so those things stayed with me and have become part of my work as well as my home and even the tattoos i decorate my body with. Nature makes such beautiful creatures so I love to use them in my work once they have died. I’m also drawn to things that have a sense of history to them, so I search flea markets for vintage jewelry and fabrics that tell a story. I love things that show the ravages of time. Things that are chipped and tarnished and imperfect. There’s such beauty in these flaws and to me it gives my pieces a sense of history and warmth and sometimes even a little decadence. I love animal bones and skulls, teeth and hair. There’s definitely more than a little bit of the Victorian in me. I’ve even learned taxidermy techniques as well as classes in hair art to incorporate them into my work!
Bones, teeth (false and real, human and animal), strands of pearls, feathers, ruffles, baby doll parts, tattered tea stained lace, tarnished brass, chandelier crystals, rosaries, Beefcake photos, rhinestone brooches, taxidermy, plastic bubbles, cicadas, scissors, the Infant of Prague, This is what makes up the basic palette of PUREVILE! (And everything and anything in-between) This is what excites me and provokes me to create, this makes my eyes light up and fingertips tingle.
You started making clothes, what motivated you to create accessories?
When I was young i was obsessed with comic books…especially ones like the X-Men, with its anti-heroes and angst. This led me to drawing super-heros and designing their costumes. Oddly enough this led me to clothing design, perhaps not so odd after all. Then in high school i used to make myself and my friends clothing so I decided to attend F.I.T {Fashion institute of Technology} in NYC and study fashion design. I became enamored with designers like Gaultier and Mugler and Westwood. People who made clothing that screamed individuality. Clothing that was full of fantasy! Clothing that made me realize that fashion wasn’t all ball gowns and GAP clothes, that fashion could be rebellion that fashion could be a middle finger in the face of conformity, that fashion could be an escape from suburban boredom and mediocrity, that fashion could be a weapon. It was a revelation and I had dreams of becoming a designer. I love making clothes {and still do}. But honestly making clothes can be very expensive, so I started making accessories with things around my apartment that I loved…a bit of rosary, an arm of a doll and there the seed of what would become PUREVILE! Was born! I still make one of a kind pieces and I love to alter pieces like I did in those DIY punk influenced days of my youth. So clothing is absolutely still a huge part of the PUREVILE! Brand!
How do you go about creating a new piece with “corpses” on it? We’d love to know about your design process.
With bone pieces specifically I like to either compliment the bone with something glamorous and soft or add something even harder to it to throw it over the edge. Different bones lend themselves to different kinds of pieces. Some bones naturally foot with the architecture of the body so I let the bones lay where they naturally would or where they fit against other bones in the body. I try to work with the natural forms not against them. I try to make skulls the star of the show when i use them and they are often front and center to draw the eye in a dramatic way.
My design process is very varied and vague. I don’t usually sketch or pre-plan SOMETIMES i have an idea in mind and that leads me to try and find the supplies and pieces to carry that out…but MOSTLY first I find the pieces and then they speak to me and tell me what they want to become. Since I don’t often have a plan and use such a wide variety of materials I have to have everything spread out so I can see it all at once so usually my space is completely covered with bones and baubles of all shapes and sizes and I sort of swirl around and grab what I need, trying things and discarding things until the piece I’m working on feels complete. I also like to work on a few pieces at once. My mind is sometimes racing when I work and I can’t keep up with it so I have a few pieces going at the same time to keep me occupied.
Do you have a favorite PUREVILE piece? And what piece has been the most daring you’ve done so far?
My favorite piece is probably “Never the Bride” my corset gas mask. It’s a tribute piece in a way to my Aunt who was killed and to people who’s lives where cut short too soon. I handmade the entire thing for a group show called “Lingering Whispers” curated by my friend Predrag the show was held in London in St Pancras church in the catacombs where there are still over 500 people interred, it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up and the first ever art show I was asked to participate in so I wanted to make something special that felt both disturbing but also somewhat sweet and nostalgic. Something that would cause thought and discussion and it absolutely has! It’s my baby and even though people have offered me a lot of money to buy it I have a hard time letting go of it. It’s the most personal thing I made and it feels like a part of me, so much I have it tattooed on my arm forever.
As far as the most “daring” I guess the anthropomorphic jock straps I made could be considered daring! I have always loved jockstraps especially the old fashioned ones with the hard cups inside {they always reminded me of the old Beefcake photography from the 1950’s} and wondered if I could take them from something simple and fetishized into something fantastical and I did! I made a deer jock, a wolf and even a “COCKtopuss” with eight moveable tentacles all the animals are made from underwear material and seem to be transforming and coming to life from this inanimate object. They are still sexy but also have a bit of humor to them! Which I think is wonderful! Sex should be fun and is taken too seriously or made to be taboo, I want to inject some fun and healthy fantasy back into sexuality and this is my way of doing it! I guess anything i do that has to do with sexuality especially my sexuality is daring in a way since being gay is still considered taboo in most of the world.
Many of your pieces had life; however, it seems that after you work on them, they have another chance to exist, now in an exquisite and romantic form. What is the most rewarding part of your job?
That’s probably the met rewarding thing actually. To take something that’s life less weather literally or figuratively and gives it a new life, a second chance. I see all these things in piles forgotten and they call out to me, they yearn to be seen again and to be loved once more, even broken and chipped they long for another chance in the light. So that’s what I try and do. And when I see someone see something I created and it resonates so deeply in them that is rewarding because sometimes sitting in my kitchen studio I wonder if anyone is going to like my work at all other than me. More than once someone has said to me “It’s like you made this piece just for me that is the most rewarding thing I could ever hear! That makes it all worth it in my eyes.
Your pieces can become controversial, has there been censorship or criticism for it?
I actually haven’t surprisingly! I do like to use a lot of imagery of naked men in my work. I also like to use religious items like crosses and rosaries (sometimes even together). The Jockstraps I make to exude a certain type of sexuality may frighten some people in their obviousness. However I haven’t had any complaints or suffered any censorship. The pieces that do actually cause some controversy occasionally are the bones and pieces of dead animals or insects I use. People often wonder if I kill the animals to use them for monitory gain. I assure you nothing I use has been killed for my work! I am very careful to choose animals and insects that have already died to become a part of my work. I use these creatures to revere them not in an exploitative way. I am trying to give them a life after their death, to show the beauty that they and we all leave behind once we are gone.
People like Boy George and Rihanna have used pieces of PUREVILE!, but is there a specific celebrity you’d love to see wearing one of your designs?
Boy George is a teenage idol of mine and is still a HUGE influence so I was in SHOCK when I saw him wearing my piece I was actually struck speechless which never happens! Then Rihanna shoot was just stunning! So tribal and animalistic a perfect match for my pieces; Margaret Cho has also bought some pieces from me and sent me some very sweet emails as well as posting photos of her wearing them on Instagram, That was such an honor as well. I wish Isabella Blow could have worn one of my pieces! i feel like they would have suited her well Someone so in love with fashion and such a patron of the arts, plus they would have looked amazing with all her McQueen! I’d love someone like Daphne Guinness to own a piece of PUREVILE! Someone which such a deep understanding of fashion and more importantly style! Even someone like Lynne Yeager who is so quirky and odd, Id die to see her in one of my pieces. Douglas Little, Judy Blame, Marc Almond, Patrick McDonald elegant and stylish men who I think would wear my pieces with style and flair. Strong women like Siouxsie Sioux, Yolandi from Die Antwoord, Grace Jones, Antony and even Anna Varney from Sopor Aeternus would look sublime draped in PUREVILE! Personal idols and influences are who I’d like to see in my work more than Hollywood Starlets and Heartthrobs.
Who uses PUREVILE?
When I stared making PUREVILE! I thought it would all be lovely little goth girls and frail tattered goth boys grabbing it up and it is sometimes. However it’s also the strange artsy older woman who’s obsessed with teeth or scissors. It’s the quiet girl in the corner who loves cicadas as much as I do and collects them in jars. It´s misunderstood misanthropes of all ages and shapes. It´s Lost boys and girls; people who read too much and sleep too little; people who never give up their toys and never stop playing dress up. It’s never who I expect it to be which I love! Hauntingly witchy drag queens like my friend Severely Mame and punky photographers like my friend Krys Fox. Beautiful creatures like my friend Johanna Constantine who wears my pieces like armor and could open a museum with everything she owns!!! It’s for all the broken birds and everyone who sees beauty in the macabre and forgotten. They are all part of the PUREVILE ARMY! And with their help the revolution will be accessorized.
Your pieces need special care?
My pieces are made from mostly vintage pieces or bones and sometimes glass. Things that have lasted over time but are sometimes a bit delicate, so sometimes a lighter touch or a special hand is needed when wearing them. I try to reinforce them and attach them together in a strong and lasting way. However I wear the pieces out dancing all the time as do many of my friends and they are fine. Everything can potentially break weather its one of my pieces or a 24 karat gold, necklace but if you love it you should wear it out and wear it until you can’t wear it anymore.
If you work with materials that cause fears and phobias (and you seem to love them) what things scare you or simply could not work with it?
I’m not scared of anything really material wise. I’m more than willing to work with anything, and i challenge myself to expand my scope all the time. What scares me most is working with things that are banal and boring, Things that are simple and one dimensional. Things that are clean and modern and don’t have a soul. Things that don’t tell a story, also as I stated before I would never used an animal that was killed for my work! I only use found parts that died naturally.
You also have a story behind the mixes and you’re a recognized Dj. What music or band has most affected or influenced your work?
Music has and always will be a huge part of my life. Everything I do a and everything I am is influenced by music! When I was young people like Boy George and Cyndi Lauper saved my life with their individualistic images that reminded me that there is beauty in the strange and there was more than one way to be than just “normal” and their music and lyrics reminded me that the most important thing you could ever be was yourself no matter what! Probably the one most influential band for me has been the Cure! They led me through very dark times and showed me that there could be beauty and comfort in darkness and that by exploring the dark-sides of life and accepting that there is sadness that you could have a more full understanding of life and yourself and once you accept that then you can’t fear it anymore. Also Robert Smith definitely influenced my teenage hairstyle as well. My hair was, at its highest, 14 inches tall and teased and hair-sprayed within an inch of its life. I walked around looking like a rag doll from nightmare-land and it’s all his fault! But as I stated before I have been constantly influenced by music all my life and my tastes constantly grow and evolve. Within everything I do and every time I sit down to create there is music, always and forever.
Until now, how have your designs evolved and what are your plans for the future?
My designs evolve as I do. My life lately had taken a scary and challenging turn and it made me more brave and brazen and I think that reflects in my work. My work is very personal so how I’m feeling is directly attached to the level of work I produce and when I’m feeling brave and strong I create more insane and creative and challenging pieces! When I first started I was finding my voice like a bird fresh from the nest, I wasn’t sure what to expect and what people would think. Now I’m more concerned about if I like what I make, and if I like what i do and I put my heart and soul into every piece people will recognize that and react to it and they will be attracted to the energy I put into it! In the future I hope to add more clothing back into the mix. More expanded fashion pieces. i love making clothing and miss making pieces as much as i used to so hopefully someday soon there will be a small PUREVILE! Clothing line! I’d love to create my own fabrics as well and create pieces pout of that! Prints of old medical devices and prosthetic limbs and maybe some nudie Beefcake photos as well! I would love to also maybe do shoes as well some day! A fragrance is most definitely in the works for the near future. And I’m working on many collaborations with other artists and designers. A fashion video as well. I hope to make PUREVILE! a more all encompassing and expansive brand covering as many areas as I can while still holding true to my handmade one-of-a-kind aesthetic! I have so many dreams and so many avenues I’d like to pursue, hopefully with a lot of hard work and magic I can make them all come true.
The best of Wren is coming. Artists like him get better with each project. Pay attention because your forgotten precious object in a drawer or the biggest cause of your fears may be hanging in one of the works of this talented designer, as if he was in charge of the forgotten valuable remains of our epic personal battles, collecting them to armor a powerful army with memories, bones and emotions.
TEXT: Björzh Znchz
